Joseph Bakare
The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has secured the conviction and sentence of one Darlington Ogihonmwanghomwan before Justice A. Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court, sitting in Kaduna.
Ogihonmwanghomwan was prosecuted on a one-count charge, bordering on cheating to the tune of N1.2million (One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira).
The charge reads: “That you Darlington Ogihonmwanghomwan (while being the operator of Hale Bird Poultry Company) sometime in December, 2023 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court cheated one Zainab Baloni by dishonestly inducing her to deliver to you the sum of N1,200,000.00 (One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira) only which was the property of the said Zainab Baloni and that you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 306 (a) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 307 of the same Law.”
He pleaded “guilty” when the charge was read to him, following which prosecution counsel, M. U. Gadaka urged the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.
Justice Isiaka sentenced him to three years imprisonment or to pay N100,000.00 (Hundred Thousand Naira).
Ogihonmwanghomwan’s road to jail began sometime in 2023 following a petition to the Commission by his victim, who alleged that she came in contact with the convict through his business account on Instagram, and that in their conversations he assured her that his company is a multi-billion naira agricultural firm that was into mass production of poultry and eggs and offers investors five percent return on the investment every two days for 15 days in one month, of which an investor can make withdrawals at will and at any point. After the victim paid him a total of N1.2million, Ogihonmwanghomwan failed to fulfil his own end of the agreement and also ensured that all efforts by the victim to make him refund the money proved abortive.